Monday, November 21, 2011

skeptic: "miracle doctor" ring exposed in Shanghai

Below is an interesting case from a Shanghai local English language newspaper.

It details a group who engaged in a scheme to defraud by convincing their victims that they had supernatural powers. These powers included the ability to know facts about people without being told as well as the ability to remove bad luck.

What's interesting, perhaps, is just how simple and low tech the operation was.

Often skeptics who expose paranormal scams are guilty of giving the impression that supernatural tricksters are clever men and women who can only be unmasked by someone equally or perhaps even more clever than the evil-doers. Alas! Often it just isn't so.

Remember, please be carefull and use common sense. If something seems impossible or too good to be true, well, it just might be. So please don't let yourself be scammed.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=487994&type=Metro

Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=487994&type=Metro

I tend to write several entries on a subject and although admittedly they are of variable quality by following the topic keys then one should get a fairly complete view of what I think on the issue. There's a lot of good information buried here particularly on some obscure subjects related to assisting newly arrived refugees, particularly from Burma. These subjects include furniture donation issues, driver education and even domestic violence. If these issues interest you, follow the internal links, do searches, there's a lot here and I've found that often people search on a subject using google, I've written an answer, but the search engines sent them to some other entry where I discussed only a small part of the issue. So if a subject that interests you has a truly mediocre entry there is probably a good one hidden away as well on different aspects of the same subject You can't get a full picture on the issues covered in this blog by reading just one entry. it wasn't written that way. If you still don't see what you want, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Thank you.

About Me

Journalist, educator, and low level Asian history scholar who dabbles in fiction. Peter Huston is the author of several books, including Scams from the Great Beyond, Tong, Gangs, and Triads,, and the novel, Excess Emotional Baggage.
Interests include :
1) Internatinal Education and Teaching English as a Second or other Language,
2)refugee concerns and refugee resettlement,
3)self defense and martial arts,
4) Asian culture and history,
5) censorship controversies
6) the skeptical examination of paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims.
Education includes a master's degree in East Asian Studies from Cornell and a second master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University at Albany, party of the New York State SUNY system.
I am not the sailing guy, sports betting guy or the attorney guy. These people who use the name Peter Huston are, presumably, impostors. I am the real
Peter Huston.